You can leave your bow strung if you want, without damaging it. I store mine on two pegs, with the weight of the bow resting on the ends of the riser. Never leave it standing on end for any amount of time, strung or unstrung.

You can ask specific questions here and generally get a lot of help. O.L.'s site is great for tuning. I recommend Byron Ferguson's book Become The Arrow, and Ricky Welch's instinctive shooting video Vol. II also has a good bit of information.

You will have to determine when you are ready to hunt, and what your limitations are. Whitetails generally have a kill zone the size of a paper plate, give or take. Being able to hit this consistently is a good place to start, but also practice realistic hunting situations--if you hunt from a blind, shoot from it--the same for a treestand, etc. 3-D tournaments are good for practice, just keep in mind the kill zones on the targets aren't always 100% accurate. Also remember the animals won't always stand perfectly still and broadside for you. Know where the vitals are at a given angle, and think about the path your arrow will travel as it passes through--the 10 ring on a McKenzie target is not where you want to shoot a deer that is quartering away. Praticing long shots and becoming accurate with them will make the shorter shots easier. Practice at different distances, different angles, different light situations, etc. Work on your form and consistency first, then worry about accuracy. Start close and work your way back--there is no shame in practicing at 5 yds. Starting close and hitting the target will build your confidence and accuracy much faster than missing at longer ranges.

Good luck!

Chad